Scandal
by dcatpuppet
Summary: The Daily Scandal gets their hands on pages from some of the Muppets' private diaries and journals and share the entries with the world, igniting a lot of conflict and shame. Will the Muppets be able to fix things after everything has gone out into the open? Featuring Muppet characters that haven't been seen in awhile.
1. Jealousy

**March 4th 1978** The Muppet Show was coming to a close of their latest show, which had a final act of their guest star, Jaye P Morgan, singing "That Old Black Magic" with Dr. Teeth, leader of the Electric Mayhem.

Rather than playing the keyboard like usual, Dr. Teeth was on the main stage, dancing with Jaye P, with the band playing in the background.

"I should stay away but what can I do," Jaye P Morgan sang. "I hear your name, and I'm aflame."

"Aflame with such a burning desire," Dr. Teeth crooned.

"That only your kiss," Jaye P started.

"Can put out the fire!" Dr. Teeth finished, where the two locked lips.

It was a wonderful performance; the audience loved it, the Muppets sitting backstage loved it, everyone loved it...except for one blue Muppet. It was hard to tell since he always wore shades, but Zoot was glaring at the singing duo as he played saxophone.

"Lucky," he thought to himself. "Just don't think of this duet as anything more than a duet and we'll be fine."

After the show, the Electric Mayhem went to their dressing room and talked about the show.

"Man, Doc! You and Jaye P were really livening it up onstage!" Floyd Pepper exclaimed. "Why, if I didn't know better, I'd say she liked you!"

"Too true, Floyd. We have really groovy chemistry singing together," Dr. Teeth agreed. "But unfortunately for me regarding love, she's married."

(When I checked Wikipedia, it said Jaye P Morgan married someone. I don't know if that was still accurate by the time she was on the Muppet Show, so please correct me if I'm wrong.)

"Thank goodness for that," Zoot muttered, leaving the room in a hurry.

His friends watched him go and once they assumed he had gone far away from the dressing room, Janice asked, "Like, is it just me or did Zoot seem rully irritated about something?"

"I wonder what's on his mind," Floyd said.

The next morning during rehearsal for next week's show, Zoot was acting pretty cold towards Dr. Teeth. He'd shoot him icy stares, wouldn't speak to him most of the day, and when they did talk, Zoot didn't look directly at him and spoke in a bit of a sharp tone.

Finally, after enduring this all day, Dr. Teeth got Zoot alone and asked, "Okay, what is your problem with me today? Did I do something wrong?"

Zoot was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "You never told me you were going to do that kind of number with Jaye P Morgan."

"What do you-Oh, you mean us dancing and singing together? Yeah, I thought it was very groovy. Jaye P seemed to think so too. Was something wrong with it?" Dr. Teeth asked.

"Well, you were kind of...all over her with the kissing and that," Zoot stated.

"Yeah, maybe we were getting a little crazy. Why did that bother you?"

Zoot opened his mouth, ready to tell him why, but he shut it and shook his head, "It doesn't matter. We should get back to work." And with that, Zoot walked off, leaving Dr. Teeth very confused.

So he and Jaye P kissed each other, no big deal to him, but it seemed like a pretty big deal to Zoot. It was almost like he was...jealous.

Dr. Teeth's jaw dropped and he gasped, "So that's it!"

Later that day, Zoot was in the band's dressing room, writing in his dark blue journal. He only wrote in it if he had a lot on his mind, and boy, he had a great deal on his mind right now!

Dr. Teeth walked in and greeted the saxophonist, "Hey Zoot."

Zoot, not even bothering to look up, mumbled, "Hey."

Dr. Teeth walked up to him until he was right next to him and said, "Listen, I thought about what you said earlier regarding my song with Jaye P Morgan. Man, I should've known that was why you were so mad at me. You were jealous! You should've told me sooner that you felt that way."

Zoot looked up from his writing to look at Dr. Teeth, his eyes wide open behind his sunglasses. "You...you figured it out?" The saxophonist had kept his feelings bottled up inside of him for so long, scared to finally make them known, and now since Dr. Teeth has figured it out…

"Yep, and I got to say, I was very surprised! But I'm cool with it," Dr. Teeth replied.

"Oh, that's good," Zoot smiled a little, a wave of relief coming over him. Now since Dr. Teeth knew, maybe they could finally-.

"You should've told us you had a crush on Jape P Morgan!" Dr. Teeth stated.

Zoot froze, his eye opening even wider and his jaw dropped open, "Huh?"

"If I had know, I would've backed off and let you perform with her."

Zoot wanted to slam his face into the table. That was the conclusion Dr. Teeth came to, which was not the one he had been hoping for!

"So, now since I know this, I guess everything's cool between us?" Dr. Teeth asked.

Zoot was silent for a few seconds before flatly saying, "Yeah sure, we're cool now."

"Good to hear!" Dr. Teeth grinned before leaving the room, glad that the issue between him and Zoot had been sorted out and settled.

Zoot looked back at his journal, staring at his latest entry for a few seconds, before quickly writing down something to finish it.

The saxophonist sighed and shut the book.

"Guess it's back to keeping those feelings to myself again," he thought.

After a few days, Zoot got over his irritation with Dr. Teeth and Jaye P Morgan, and life went on as usual, but Zoot still wished that Dr. Teeth had found out the TRUE reason as to why Zoot got so upset over the performance.

 **Why was Zoot really upset about Dr. Teeth dancing with Jaye P Morgan?**

 **What did he write in his journal?**

 **We may find out in the next chapter of Scandal!**


	2. Lips meets Clifford

**April 1990**

The Muppets were in Walt Disney World, getting work done for their upcoming TV special, _The Muppets at Walt Disney World_.

Among the chaos of trying to get all the filming done, Lips was standing in the middle of it all, not sure what to do. He had gotten separated from the Electric Mayhem and now he wasn't sure where to go.

"Okay, Lips, just try to stay calm and find them. They couldn't have gotten far," the trumpeter thought to himself. He took a deep breath and looked around before deciding to head right. He was walking very fast, trying to hurry over to where his friends were before filming started without him.

Lips picked up the pace when he heard someone say that filming will continue in 5 minutes and it wasn't long until he was running through the crowd. He was sure he had found where the band was when-WHAM!

Lips found himself lying on the ground, not sure what he ran into until he heard a voice say, "Hey man, you gotta watch where you're going! You almost knocked me down!"

Lips scrambled to his feet and started stammering, "Oh god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to crash into you! I was just in a rush to find my bandmates."

Then, Lips got a good look at the guy he ran into: He was a purple Muppet with multicolored dreadlocks. He had a pair of sunglasses on, which he was holding up, showing his eyes. He had a bit of an annoyed look on his face for a few seconds, but his expression softened when he saw how nervous Lips was getting.

He lowered his shades back down and said, "Hey, it's cool. No harm done!"

Lips signed in relief, glad the man wasn't too ticked off about the accident.

"You're with the Electric Mayhem band, right?" the purple Muppet asked.

"Yeah, I'm Lips," Lips greeted, sticking out his hand.

"Cool to meet you, Lips. Name's Clifford," the dreadlocked Muppet replied, taking Lips' hand and shaking it.

Lips froze and asked, "As in the bassist from Solid Foam? The house band of Jim Henson Hour?"

"Yeah, that was me. You've heard of us?" Clifford asked.

"Yeah, Dr. Teeth told us about you guys and showed the Electric Mayhem your music video," Lips explained.

"Cool, good to know you liked our music," Clifford said, smiling.

"So, is the rest of Solid Foam here too?" Lips asked, curious to meet Clifford's bandmates.

Clifford's smile vanished and he looked down at the ground, "No, we split up a while ago. Sometime after the Jim Henson Hour got cancelled."

Lips' mouth dropped open, "Oh man...I'm...I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I kind of saw it coming. Before we filmed episode 12, Flash took off somewhere, and Charlie quit because she hated the lack of recognition she was getting, so we were kind of falling apart," Clifford explained.

"Charlie? Who's Charlie?"

"Drummer girl."

"Oh."

There was then a bit of an awkward silence between the two Muppet musicians, neither of them sure what to say next. Then, one of the members of the film crew announced, "2 minutes until we proceed with filming!"

Lips started shaking and jumping around again, "Oh man! I still have to find the rest of the Electric Mayhem before filming starts! It's going to be the "Rockin' All Around the World" scene!"

Clifford laughed, "Man, you have really bad anxiety, don't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Lips asked, still trembling.

"Hey, just relax, Lips. Lucky for you, I know where the band is. Just stay calm and follow me," Clifford told the trumpeter, who nodded.

Clifford led Lips to where the Electric Mayhem was, who were all sitting on a pyramid stage similar to the one they had in the Muppet Show.

Janice was the first to see them approaching. "Oh Lips! Like, where've you been? We thought you would end up being late," she said.

"Sorry, I got lost," Lips explained. "But Clifford helped me find you guys."

"That's good. Thanks for helping our bandmate, Clifford," Dr. Teeth said. "You ready to go on?"

"You know I always am," Clifford answered, smiling.

Lips turned towards his new friend and asked, "Wait, you're going to perform with us?"

"Yeah, for this number. Why? Do you think I'm not worthy?" Clifford asked.

"No, no, no, I didn't mean to-," Lips started saying when Clifford cut him off, "I'm just kidding, Lips. I probably should've mentioned it when I ran into you...or when you ran into me!"

Lips did an embarrassed laugh and started to blush. "Man, why am I getting nervous so easily around this guy?" he wondered to himself.

After the band performed their song, Lips sat down with Clifford and said, "You did great during the song. I didn't know you knew how to play instruments besides bass."

"Yeah, that's one of the reasons why Dr. Teeth asked me to perform with you guys for this special," Clifford stated.

"So...were you planning on joining up with our band? I mean, if you want, I can talk to Doc and the others-," Lips started saying but Clifford shook his head, "Thanks for the offer, Lips, but I don't think I want to join up with anymore bands for awhile, not after what happened to Solid Foam. I think I'm just going to perform solo from now on."

Lips glanced down at the ground and said, "Does...that mean you're going to quit the Muppets after this?"

"I didn't say that! Man, Lips, you're very confusing. I can't tell if you want me to stay or leave!" Clifford exclaimed.

Lips jumped and quickly said, "I didn't mean to come off that way! It's just...you're a really cool guy and I'd hate to see you leave us."

Clifford nodded, "Yeah, I get that. I think you're a really cool dude too."

Lips looked Clifford in the eyes, or sunglasses, and asked, "You...you mean that?"

"Yeah, I do."

Lips smiled and said, "Thanks."

After the Muppet special had wrapped up filming, Lips and Clifford became distant. In fact, the next time they saw each other was at Jim Henson's funeral, which wasn't really the best time to strike up a friendly conversation.

As time went on, the two Muppets have been on and off with the Muppet cast, Lips having a small cameo in The Muppet Christmas Carol movie and Clifford being the host of Muppets Tonight and in the Muppets from Space movie.

In the early 2000s, Lips didn't pop up in any Muppet films or specials and Clifford had a small cameo in The Muppets Wizard of Oz tv film before vanishing from the Muppets forever.

When the Muppets reunited for their 2011 movie, Lips was pretty disappointed when he saw Clifford didn't show up. He asked Rizzo and Pepe about what happened to him and the two Muppets explained that Clifford was taking a break from the Muppets to go back to his roots as a musician and they were very uncertain about whether or not he'll return.

Lips was very sad to hear this, but he wasn't sure why. He and Clifford didn't really know each other that well. Besides, if he and Clifford did meet again after all these years, Clifford probably wouldn't recognize him and might blow him off.

For a while, Lips started to wonder what would've happened if he and Clifford had stayed in touch. Would they have become very close friends? Would Clifford still be in the Muppets? Lips wasn't sure, but he did know that he would probably never see him again.

* * *

 **What happened to Clifford?**

 **Will Lips ever see him again?**

 **Find out in the next episode of Scandal!**

 **Please Follow, Favorite, and/or Review!**


	3. Present Day

**2017** It was a hectic morning at the Muppet boarding House. Everyone was rushing around trying to get themselves ready for rehearsal at the Muppet Theater. There was a long line to the bathroom, a lot of people were going around the kitchen, trying to get breakfast ready, and a few were sitting at the dining room table, eating breakfast or sitting patiently until it was time to go.

Kermit, Robin and Walter were among these few people at the dining table, Walter and Robin eating cereal and Kermit flipping through a newspaper, waiting for all the other Muppets to get ready.

"So Kermit," Walter asked, breaking the silence. "What's the plan at the Muppet Theater for today?"

"Well, we need to rehearse a few skits for the show and a reporter from some sort of newspaper is going to come by and interview some of us," Kermit answered.

"Didn't you say yesterday that we were also going to be meeting with some possible new employees today?" Robin asked his uncle.

"New Muppets are going to audition today? That's great! We could use some new performers," Walter said.

"Actually, not all of them are going to be completely new. Some of them are going to be people we've worked with in the past but didn't show up to partake in the 2011 movie. Since we've been gaining a lot of popularity lately, some of them want to get involved in the old show again," Kermit explained.

"Wait, you mean like characters from Muppets Tonight and The Jim Henson Hour? Wow! I wonder which ones want to rejoin," Walter said, thinking of every character that he knows hasn't been seen onscreen in a long time.

Fozzie entered from outside, clutching a small stack of envelopes and an issue of the Daily Scandal. "Okay, I've got a couple of letters here, and an issue of the Daily Scandal!" the bear announced. "Who here is subscribed to the Daily Scandal?"

Miss Piggy popped out of her bedroom and said, "Oh, that must be moi's! Would someone bring that up to my room, please?"

Walter retrieved the magazine from Fozzie and went upstairs to Piggy. "Miss Piggy, you don't actually believe the articles that are written in that magazine, do you? I heard that a lot of the stories are made up nowadays," the Muppet fan stated.

"Oh, I've know, but some of the articles are hilarious! Like this one right here: 'Prince's Ghost spotted near Paisley Park Records'! I wonder what kind of idiot would fall for that?" Miss Piggy read aloud.

"What's this about Prince's ghost?" Dr. Bunsen Honeydew asked, walking into the room followed by his assistant, Beaker.

"It was spotted near the recording studio he used to work at," Walter answered.

"Really? Incredible! Beaker, get out the ghost investigating equipment and see if we can find someone to take us to Paisley Park Records later today. This incident is worth looking into!" Bunsen instructed his friend.

"Me-meep!" Beaker nodded, running down into the basement where the duo's home laboratory was located.

Miss Piggy slapped the magazine onto her forehead and muttered, "I had to ask that out loud."

Rizzo entered the room and said, "It's a shame that Prince had gone so soon. He was a really cool guy." The rat looked down at the ground and sighed, "There'll never be another person like him."

"Aw Rizzo, I didn't know you were still a little torn up about his death," Gonzo said, patting his best friend on the back.

"Well, who isn't? We all mourned him that day, well anyone who was in Muppets Tonight did," Rizzo stated. "I wonder how Clifford took the bad news. He and Prince were pretty good friends."

"Well, Clifford was probably just as depressed about it as we all were," Kermit guessed. "Like you said, he and Prince did stay friends after that episode of Muppets Tonight. The news of Prince's death probably destroyed him."

Lips then entered the dining room, asking, "What's this I'm hearing about Clifford?"

"We were just talking about Prince's death and how Clifford might've reacted to the news," Gonzo explained.

"That's a weird topic to discuss, but I can't blame you for thinking about it. I kind of expected Clifford to call us when it happened, like he needed support to cope with the grief or something like that," Lips admitted. "Guess he's the type to mourn alone."

"Yeah, that might be true," Gonzo agreed.

"So, speaking of Muppets Tonight," Walter said, changing the subject. "Why weren't you in it, Lips? You could've had a chance to meet the more modern celebrities."

"Yeah, you could've been a trumpeter for our house band," Rizzo added.

"You could've gotten more screen-time," Gonzo threw in.

"You would've been able to hang out with Clifford more," Zoot said, walking into the room.

"Well…" Lip started, twiddling his thumbs. "I just wanted a break from showbiz for a while. The pressure was really starting to get to me."

"Pressure? What pressure? Nobody knew who you were!" Rizzo stated.

"That's the point, nobody would've recognized me," Lips explained.

"And being on Muppets Tonight could've allowed fans to see more of you so you could be recognized more," Gonzo told the trumpeter.

"And what are you talking about being unrecognizable? You're part of the Electric Mayhem! People would've know who you were!" Walter exclaimed. "I'm sure you met Clifford once. I mean, you were both in the Muppets at Walt Disney World tv special."

"I remember when you first met Clifford," Zoot stated. "You were so nervous around him that I thought you would faint!"

Lips threw his head back and groaned, "I know! It was awful! He probably thought I was a dork or something."

"Nah, man. Clifford thought you were cool. He told you himself, didn't he?" Zoot reminded his bandmate.

"Yeah, but-," Lips started to say until Walter cut in, "See! Clifford knew who you were! I'm pretty sure he would've let you be on Muppets Tonight!"

"Yeah but that doesn't matter now; Muppets Tonight may be gone, but we got the Muppet Show back on the air, and I'm in that. But Clifford's not in the Muppet Troupe anymore," Lips said.

"But Clifford might come back one day," Walter suggested.

"Yeah, and when he does, he's not going to remember me," Lips said. "Out reunion will probably go like this: I'll say 'Hey Clifford! Welcome back! How are you?' and he'll say '...I'm sorry, who are you?' or he'll ask someone else 'who's this weirdo?'."

"Oh come on! Clifford doesn't have bad memory. I mean, sure, you two only spoke to each other on one or two occasions, but I'm sure he'll still know who you are," Rizzo insisted.

Lips justed nodded and left the room, Zoot following close behind.

"I can't believe how negative you were just now. That's not like you at all," the saxophonist pointed out.

"I know," Lips sighed. "Sorry. I think it's because I feel a lot of regret for not keeping in touch with Clifford after the Disney World special."

Zoot patted his friend on the shoulder, "Hey, Walter said Clifford could come back one day. If he does, you could try to be a closer friend to him."

"Yeah, I guess I could," Lips agreed.

"Heck, maybe this time, Clifford will want to join the band," Zoot added.

"That'd be cool. He's a groovy musician and singer."

"And maybe you could finally confess your undying love for him."

"Yeah, I-WHOA! HOLD THE PHONE! I can't believe I nearly waltzed right into that one," Lips said, shaking his head.

Zoot laughed, "Don't deny it! I know that you had such a bad crush on him back them. That's why you were so nervous."

Lips nodded, "Yeah, it's true. I can't deny the fact that I found him attractive. But the day I confess my love to Clifford will probably be the same day you admit your feelings to Dr. Teeth!"

Zoot immediately covered Lips' mouth with his hand and looked around to make sure that nobody was around to hear that statement. Once he was sure that they were still alone, he pulled his hand away. "Keep your voice down! John might've heard you, and I'm still not sure if he feels the same way yet!" he whispered.

"Okay, sorry," Lips apologized, lowering his voice. "I think I'm in the same boat regarding Clifford. Last I checked, he had a girlfriend who he talked to on the phone a lot on Muppets Tonight and I don't know if they're still together. Also, I don't even know if he has a preference for guys."

"He kissed Rizzo once," Zoot stated.

"Yeah, but not intentionally. Paula Abdul made that happen," Lips reminded the blue Muppet. "Also, how do we know if he'll even come back to the Muppets. It's been nearly 12 years, so I think he's gone forever."

"Hey, you never know. A miracle might happen. I heard Kermit saying some old Muppet co-stars are going to come back to work with us again today. For all we know, one of the might be Clifford," Zoot suggested.

"No, I doubt that. I've lost him for good," Lips stated.

Then the two musicians heard Kermit holler, "Okay! Everyone to your designated carpools! We're heading to the theater to get rehearsals started!"

And with that, all the Muppets in the house flooded out of the building and into their vehicles and drove to the Muppet Theater to get their work started.

* * *

 **So, some former Muppet co-stars are going to return to the Muppet Troupe! Who could they be?**

 **Find out in the next chapter of Scandal!**

 **Please Follow Favorite and/or Review!**


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